For those eagerly awaiting the day when classic rock, ‘80s electronic music, reggae, modern pop, and Eastern exotica would fuse into one earth-shattering sound, it’s your lucky day: For the first time in almost half a century, Mick Jagger has stepped out on the Rolling Stones to join a new band, forming the supergroup Super Heavy with the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, British soul singer Joss Stone, reggae scion Damien Marley, and Academy Award-winning Slumdog Millionaire composer A.R. Rahman. Eighteen months ago the members gathered at a studio in Los Angeles with no prepared material, and proceeded to just see where things went. (In keeping with that spirit, the band name comes from some of Marley’s improvised lyrics.)
When Rolling Stone asked him to comment on the band’s style, Jagger had this to say: “It’s different from anything else I’ve ever been involved in… The music is very wide-ranging—from reggae to ballads to Indian songs in Urdu,” which will probably cause most Stones traditionalists to cringe in horror. (Although Jagger seems confident that “Stones fans will think it's a bit odd, but they'll find most of it accessible.”) The group plans to release its debut in September, though no tour plans have been set as of yet. When asked if his main band would be touring next year, Jagger only had this to say: "I don't have any announcement to make at the moment… I'm just, uh, ya know… just doing this right now." That level of certainty sounds about right.